Kansans for Life credits Brownback for Alito

Gov. Sam Brownback welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision, saying it “affirmed the right of religious freedom, one of the bedrock principles enshrined in our Constitution,” and “again rebuked a needless overreach of President Obama’s administration.” In its response to the ruling, Kansans for Life gratefully linked the opinion’s author, Justice Samuel Alito, to Brownback: “Alito’s appointment to the court would not have occurred had not our governor, then-U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, led the resistance to President Bush’s 2005 nomination of Harriet Miers to replace the retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.” Of course, Brownback has done plenty for the anti-abortion cause as governor, too, after having said in his 2011 State of the State address: “I call on the Legislature to bring to my desk legislation that protects the unborn, establishing a culture of life in Kansas.” As of early this year, Kansas had paid private law firms more than $1 million to defend anti-abortion laws enacted under Brownback.